In the wake of Earth Day this past Friday, Rye residents can divert just a bit more of their trash from the landfill.
Starting immediately, Rye City will now accept beverage cartons for recycling. Recyclable cartons consist predominantly of cardboard and include waxy cartons used for juice and milk (sometimes called gable-top containers); soup and broth; cream; and egg substitutes. Although mostly made of cardboard, the cartons should be included with other recyclable beverage containers made of glass, plastic and metal for collection; they should not be included with paper and cardboard recyclables.
The change in recycling policy is due to the Westchester County’s Refuse Disposal District (RDD) ability to now accept the beverage cartons. The Daniel P. Thomas Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Yonkers, processes residential recyclables for the municipalities that are located within the RDD, approximately 90% of the county’s population. The MRF is operated by City Carting of Westchester. Last year, when the county and City Carting executed a 5-year contract extension, County Executive Rob Astorino negotiated for City Carting to pay for the purchase and installation of screening equipment to enhance the facility’s cardboard and paper recycling capabilities. The new equipment requires less hand-sorting of paper recyclables, which allowed for the redeployment of personnel to hand-sort beverage containers.
